Fullscreen & Shareablee Report: Online Influence Isn’t What It Seems

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fullscreen, a global leader in social-first entertainment and branded
content, in partnership with leading social analytics firm Shareablee,
announced new research today that takes a deeper dive into what types of
influencers – based on follower size – make the most impact. Diving in
deeper than previous research on microinfluencers, the Fullscreen “Influence
by the Numbers” report analyzed a selection of 31,000 influencers
from a pool of over half a million with followings of all sizes
including Celebrities (20M+ followers); Digital Creators – encompassing
Digital Trailblazers (1M-19.9M followers) and Digital Emerging Voices &
Rising Stars (250K – 999K), and Microinfluencers (less than 250K
followers), to understand their content strategies and resulting fan
engagement behavior across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Additionally Fullscreen and Shareablee surveyed 1,200 Millennial and Gen
Z fans ages 18-34 to determine perceptions and attitudes, such as trust
and purchase intent, toward these influencer segments and the brands
that align with them.

The research showed that Digital Creators (Digital Trailblazers – 0.66%
& Digital Emergers & Risers – 0.60%) outperformed the engagement rate of
Celebrities (0.40%) and Microinfluencers (0.35%) – who have often been
mistakenly associated with better engagement performance and perceived
higher influence. Additionally per the survey, more than one-third (38%)
of those engaging with influencers trust what an influencer says about
the brand more so than what the brand says about itself, with Digital
Trailblazers having the highest level of trust among the influencer
segments at 45 percent. Respondents were also more likely to trust
Digital Creators than Celebrities about their brand perceptions.

“We noticed studies that came out about Microinfluencers were limited in
a variety of ways, and we owed it to brands to take a closer look at
this trend that exploded early last year,” said Maureen Polo, SVP at
Fullscreen. “This report analyzes what types of content influencers post
and where, and explores how the impact of content and platform varies
across each creator segment to help brands recognize how their
collaborations with influencers resonate.”

“With so much positive momentum around the Influencer space, it was the
right time to more formally verify the impact to brands of working with
different types of Influencers, so faster decisions can be made with
confidence,” said Tania Yuki, CEO at Shareablee. “We believe this is a
critical first step to creating an Influencer playbook, and to removing
the confusion about the relative value of Macroinfluencers and
Microinfluencers when it comes to purchase consideration, levels of
trust and other key metrics.”

Additional findings from the report include:

Content Strategy: Varies as much as the Platform

With a low barrier to entry and text-heavy focus, Twitter is the most
widely used platform by all Influencers (comprising between 45% to 58%
of total social posts). Nearly three-quarters (70%) of posts by
influencers on Twitter include a link while less than 5% include a
video.

Video creativity presents a higher barrier to entry; Digital Creators
have the highest percentage of their total social posts being posted
to YouTube (8% for Digital Trailblazers and 3% for Digital Emergers &
Risers vs. 1% for Celebrities and <1% for Micros).

37% of Digital Emergers and Risers’ and 36% of Digital Trailblazers’
posts on Facebook include a video, which is a higher percentage than
for Micros (20%) or Celebrities (19%).

23% of Celebrities’ posts on Instagram include videos, which is a
higher percentage than Digital Trailblazers (11%), Digital Emergers
and Risers (6%), and Micros (5%).

Co-branded influencer posts were most prevalent on Instagram (5.3%),
followed by Twitter (3.4%) then Facebook (2%). Across all social
platforms, Microinfluencers were the segment with the highest levels
of branded posting.

Trust: Key to Every Good Relationship

More than one-third (37%) of individuals engaging with influencer posts
say that when an influencer mentions a brand, their trust in the brand
increases. Trust in different types of influencers varied according to
how knowledgeable and honest fans perceive them to be:

Gen Z and young millennials trust digital content from influencers
more so than from brands themselves, even if the content is about a
brand’s product, trusting influencers over brands (44.3%) at a higher
rate than older millennials (35.7%).

Nearly one-third of respondents trust Digital Trailblazers (32.4%)
because they seem like they could be their friend; much higher than
Celebrities (19%) and Microinfluencers (24.3%), according to their
respective fans.

Transparency & Influencer Motivation

When broken down by types of influencers, both Gen Z and Millennials
believe Digital Creators have the most altruistic intentions with their
content creation, with over half (53%) believing they are creating
content to provide interesting and useful content to fans and for
self-expression.

Young adults 18-24 are also far more likely than adults 25-34 to say
that Digital Creators are making content to be useful or for
creativity (58%).

Microinfluencers are perceived as creating digital content mostly to
earn money (83%) and for self-promotion (71%), and adults 25-34
perceived all influencers to be doing the same (68%), in contrast to
the perceptions of the younger 18-24 segment.

Buying Behaviors

Almost half (42%) of 18-34 report trying a product recommended by an
influencer, and more than one-quarter (26%) say they have actually made
a purchase based on a recommendation.

Celebrity engagers were the least likely to try something recommended
by the influencer (36.2%) or to purchase the item (20%).

Microinfluencer engagers were the most likely to try something
recommended (45%); however, Digital Trailblazer engagers were the most
likely to make a purchase (30%), followed closely behind by Digital
Emergers & Risers (28%).

Adults 18-24 were also far more likely to make a purchase based on an
influencer recommendation (48%) compared to adults 25-34 (26%).

About Fullscreen

Fullscreen is a global leader in social-first entertainment experiences
serving creators, brands and consumers. As a leader in branded content
and social marketing services, Fullscreen partners with major brands
seeking to engage valuable, elusive youth audiences on social platforms
through original entertainment, influencer marketing, multi-platform
social content and targeted media through the Fullscreen Video Network.
Serving a broad range of clients from offices in Los Angeles, New York,
Chicago, and Atlanta, Fullscreen’s rapidly growing brand marketing teams
are defining the future of social-first, content-driven marketing.

About Shareablee

Shareablee is the leader in audience-based social media measurement for
media publishers, agencies and brands that want to understand the impact
and effectiveness of their cross-platform social media campaigns.
Founded in 2013 by Tania Yuki, and based in New York City, Shareablee has
grown to over 60 employees in the U.S., EMEA and APAC, with clients in
15 countries. Shareablee has partnerships with comScore, Microsoft and
Bloomberg, and is a Facebook Media Solutions partner.